The Barrel Cortex of Rodents

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Comparative Aspects of Barrel Structure and Development

   • Frank L. Rice

   Pages 1-75

3. Organization and Development of the Forepaw Representation in Forepaw Barrel Subfield in Somatosensory Cortex of Rat

   • Robert S. Waters, Carl A. McCandlish, Cheng X. Li

   Pages 77-122

4. What Makes Subcortical Barrels?

   • Theodore A. Henderson, Mark F. Jacquin

   Pages 123-187

5. Somatosensory Thalamus of the Rat

   • Mathew E. Diamond

   Pages 189-219

6. Synaptic Organization of the Barrel Cortex

   • Asaf Keller

   Pages 221-262

7. Neuronal Integration in the Somatosensory Whisker/Barrel Cortex

   • Daniel J. Simons

   Pages 263-297

8. Intrinsic Physiology and Morphology of Single Neurons in Neocortex

   • Yael Amitai, Barry W. Connors

   Pages 299-331

9. The Nature and Plasticity of Sensory Processing within Adult Rat Barrel Cortex

   • Michael Armstrong-James

   Pages 333-373

10. Neurotransmitter Receptors in Developing Barrel Cortex

    • Jannon L. Fuchs

    Pages 375-409

11. The Role of Acetylcholine in Barrel Cortex

    • Sharon L. Juliano, S. Essie Jacobs

    Pages 411-434

12. Back Matter

    Pages 435-446

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The barrel area is a unique specialization of the cerebral cortex, shared by many species of rodents and some marsupials, in which the somatotopic map of the body surface receives direct morphological expression. Here, the homogeneous sheet of layer IV granule cells seen in most mammals is fractured into large archipelagos, each representing one of the larger subdivisions of the contra­ lateral half-body. Within these larger domains are smaller aggregates of granule cells that contain the concentrated terminations of thalamocortical fibers bear­ ing messages emanating from constellations of receptors located in finer subdi­ visions of a body part. These smaller aggregates are particularly well-defined in the representation of the face, where they form a one-to-one representation of the sinus hairs or vibrissae and where they have been given the name barrels. The first inklings of the unique structure of the parietal cortex of rodents came in the study of Droogleever-Fortuyn (1914), who remarked on the pres­ ence in it of clouds of granule cells 0. 5-1 mm in diameter, which he thought were in some way associated with concentrations of nerve fibers. Little attention, however, was paid to his observations. Lorente de N 6 (1922) later observed dense focal concentrations of afferent fiber ramifications in Golgi preparations of the mouse cortex, calling them glomeruli, and these can now be seen as the structures that form the hearts of the barrels and around which the granule cells concentrate.

• cerebral cortex
• cortex
• neurons
• neurotransmitter
• physiology
• receptor

From reviews of previous volumes:

`An invaluable source of information for all those interested in the brain.'-Trends in Neurosciences 'The most valuable reference work on the cerebral cortex currently available to neuroscientists.'
Journal of Anatomy

• California College of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, USA

  Edward G. Jones

• Duke University, Durham, USA

  Irving T. Diamond

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